Israeli killing of Palestinian teenager in Jenin leaves West Bank, Gaza on knife's edge

Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and wounded another in a military raid on the Jenin refugee camp late on Monday triggering an escalation reverberating beyond the West Bank and into Gaza, where Israel moved to close all crossings in anticipation of retaliation.
 
The victim was identified as 16-year-old Dhirar Kafrini, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad - PIJ which mourned Kafrini in a statement, as one of its members.
 
“Dhirar had dropped out of school and was working in a restaurant in Jenin city”, his father, Riyadh Kafrini told The New Arab. “He had a strong personality, always smiling, and befriended everybody in the refugee camp”, his father added.

This is Dirar Al-Kafrini, a Palestinian young man who was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces during a military raid into Jenin, a while ago pic.twitter.com/sLQbOPcDMt

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) August 1, 2022

 
“Around 10:30 pm, Dhirar Kafrini was brought to the hospital in a very critical condition”, Dr. Wesam Abu Baker, director of the Jenin public hospital told The New Arab. “He had received a live bullet in his right shoulder that pierced his chest causing him internal bleeding”, he detailed. “shortly upon arriving, he passed away”, he added.
 
“The Israeli army raided the refugee camp at night hiding in a civilian truck, then followed by more than 30 armoured vehicles”, Atta Abu Rmeileh, local secretary of Fatah in Jenin refugee camp told The New Arab.
 
“Gunmen in the camp exchanged fire with the Israeli forces at several locations, while Israeli soldiers made their way into the camp, opening fire in all directions, killing Dhirar Kafrini and wounding a second young man”, he noted. “Israeli soldiers aimed for the house of Bassam al-Saadi and arrested him”.

Israeli occupation forces arrested Sheikh Bassam Al-Saadi and his son-in-law, Ashraf Al-Jada, after shooting him and brutally attacking his wife during a military raid into Jenin camp, occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/RVPwGC1ZUx

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) August 1, 2022

Bassam al-Saadi, a 62-year-old senior PIJ leader, was injured during his arrest, according to Abu Rmeileh. Several Palestinian factions issued statements threatening to escalate confrontations with Israel if Saadi’s life was endangered.

Early on Tuesday, Israeli forces made public a photo of Al-Saadi. The Israeli ‘Kan’ public broadcaster said that the aim of publishing the image was to confirm that Al-Saadi was not seriously injured, in order to "calm the atmosphere".

Israeli forces killed 17-year-old Dirar Kafrini during its invasion to Jenin refugee camp a short while ago to arrest Islamic Jihad leader Bassam AlSa’di - who was m reportedly wounded during his detention. pic.twitter.com/resWSBtc0O

— Rania Zabaneh (@RZabaneh) August 1, 2022

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians marched on Tuesday morning in Jenin in the funeral of Dhirar Kafrini, who was buried in the Jenin refugee camp cemetery.
 
With Dhirar Kafrini, Israel has killed 30 Palestinians in Jenin since the beginning of 2022, including the Palestinian-Americcan Aljazeera reporter, Shireen Ab Akleh. The toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the occupied territories since the beginning of the year reached more than 70.